What makes No.1 products

Joel Spolsky speaks about what makes No.1 products different from No.2's.

In brief:

* "Typical" quality aspects can bring us up to No.2, not No.1.
* To be No.1 you´ll need to:
* make people happy
* obsess over aestetics
* observe the "culture code"

Evaluate motivation in 10 questions

I've found an interesting questionaire about employee motivation, and decided to rephrase the questions for self-asessment. Very handy to evaluate oneselve's situation from time to time.

1. What is the "primary aim" of your company? Is it alligned with yours?
2. What obstacles stop you performing to best effect? Is your company concerned about them? Better, is someone actually dealing with them?
3. What really motivates you? Would your boss answer the same?
4. Do you feel empowered by the company?
5. Are there any recent changes in the company that might have affected motivation? Maybe is the lack of them?
6. Who is most motivated in your company? Why? Is there a path for you to get there?
7. Are your goals and company goals aligned?
8. How do you feel about the company? Safe, loyal, valued and taken care of? Or taken advantage of, dispensable and invisible?
9. How involved are you in company development? Do you feel heard? Are you consulted? Are there regular opportunities for you to give feedback?
10. Up to your experience, is the company's internal image consistent with its external one?